Mogi

Friday, April 2, 2004 » gaming link thought

This sounds really cool. The article describes it as a "location-based" game, and if I had to describe it I would say it combines the some of the concepts behind Hideo Kojima's Boktai and an MMORPG, or even just Diablo, save for the endless waves of skeletons trying to kill me.

I'm sure a lot of people think I have some unhealthy obsession with videogaming. While there are definitely times when I agree with that, there are also things like this Mogi (among others, like Rez, Animal Crossing, even Dance Dance Revolution) that are truly innovative in design and make for compelling experiences that transcend gaming, or at least integrate it enough with some other activity that you become less aware that you're really just playing a game. It's those kind of titles that make gaming genuinely fascinating. It's sort of funny to think that they share the same medium with games that let you stomp endlessly on turtles or plow through hordes of Haitians in a golf cart.

It's too bad Mogi is only available in Tokyo, but I guess that's appropriate. I don't think it would be as exciting running around Menlo Park or Goleta hoping to bump into people so you can trade items.